Manila, 30 April 2016 — Leading change in your city, how will you do it? Mayors and experts from around the world will discuss this question with UNESCO-IHE and TransformationFirst.Asia when they meet in Delft and Rotterdam for next week's Adaptation Futures 2016 Conference. Let us know your views now by taking the RESILIENT CITIES LEADERSHIP SURVEY we created.

Cities around the world are facing unprecedented challenges as they deal with climate change, rapid urbanization, increasing disaster risks, volatile economies and financial markets, social justice and environmental pressures. That is why mayors and their teams and partners are now getting together more often to share experiences and learn from each other how best to deal with these challenges.

Next week, the City of Rotterdam in the Netherlands is hosting city leaders at the global Adaptation Futures 2016 Conference. All aspects of city resilience will be presented and debated there, in the light of the latest experiences and the progress made by world leaders in Paris last December to work together in tackling climate change.

Previous conferences have already outlined an ambitious agenda for building resilient cities, with contributions needed from many sectors. The focus in these discussions has mainly been on what changes are necessary—and for sure there are many to work on.

This time, thanks to an initiative of UNESCO-IHE and TransformationFirst.Asia in collaboration with the host City of Rotterdam, the city leaders from around the world will also have an opportunity to focus on the question of how to make the necessary changes happen: how to lead change in their cities.

You can help these city leaders when you take the RESILIENT CITIES LEADERSHIP SURVEY now to share your individual leadership experiences and views to build resilience in your city!

We will work with your survey feedback in a special workshop on May 9 at UNESCO-IHE in Delft, where a select group of city leaders from around the world will debate the question Leading Change in Cities — How Will You Do It?

Interested leaders can still register for the workshop in Delft by emailing Prof Chris Zevenbergen at c.zevenbergen[at]unesco-ihe.org.

During the Conference in Rotterdam, we will build on the workshop results and explore the same theme on Thursday 12 May in session PR 1.5 Unlocking Opportunities from Leadership for Resilient Cities: How to Make Changes Happen.

If you are a city leader or a passionate advocates for resilience in your city, we will love to hear from you!

Take the RESILIENT CITIES LEADERSHIP SURVEY

Professor Chris Zevenbergen (Prof Chris)
International Expert in City-to-City Learning for Resilience
UNESCO-IHE in Delft

Wouter T. Lincklaen Arriëns (Coach Wouter)
CEO and Leadership Coach
TransformationFirst.Asia in Singapore

In collaboration with:
Wynand Dassen
Interim Manager and Resilience Coach
City of Rotterdam